Equities markets see substantial gains

Asian and Pacific equities markets were higher on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.52 percent to 5,935.4, while the SP/ASX200 was 93.8 points higher to 5955.7. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.89 percent to 19,690.25. India’s Sensex was 2.8 percent higher to 13,308.03, while the Straits Times index in Singapore was up 2.9 percent to 3,219.51.

Returning from a holiday on Wednesday, the Tokyo markets also saw gains. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.5 percent to 17,419.20, while the Topix index was 1.4 percent higher, to 1,731.8. Gains in Tokyo came in both domestic and export-focused sectors as investors began to feel better about the state of the US economy. Utilities were substantially higher, as was the steel sector. On the other hand, the construction materials sector declined after gains earlier in the week.

There were gains in European markets, too, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up 1.54 percent to 1,515.55. The advance took the Eurofirst to a gain of 4 percent in the past four sessions. Elsewhere, the Dax added 2.16 percent to 6.856.96 in Frankfurt, while in Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.75 percent to 5,598.37. Banks and insurers were higher in Europe.

In London, meanwhile, the FTSE 100 added 0.98 percent to 6,318, while the FTSE 250 closed 0.82 percent higher, at 11,708.1. The retail and banking sectors were higher in London, as were miners. However, the tobacco sector was lower on consolidation issues.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade with news of higher oil prices outweighing new data which showed new that unemployment claims were down for the third week in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up, but only 0.01 percent, to 12,447.6, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.24 percent lower to 2,450.01 and the S&P 500 fell 0.02 percent to 1,434.72. Homebuilders were lower on lower profits, and the electronics sector and booksellers also saw declines.

Story link: Equities markets see substantial gains